Patentable/Patents/US-7091131
US-7091131

Method of forming integrated circuit structures in silicone ladder polymer

PublishedAugust 15, 2006
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

A method of forming integrated circuit structures, such as capacitors and conductive plugs, within contact openings formed in a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer (PVSQ) is disclosed. Contact openings with reduced striations and CD loss are formed in a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer (PVSQ) layer by patterning the PVSQ film employing a photomask with a predefined pattern, exposing the PVSQ film to i-line, developing the exposed PVSQ film in a mixture of anisole/xylene in a ratio of about 1:2 for about 30 seconds, and subsequently optionally annealing the undeveloped PVSQ film at a temperature of about 300° C. to about 600° C.

Patent Claims
51 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising the acts of: providing a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer over and in contact with a substrate; patterning said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer by etching to form at least one opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer by contacting said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene in a ratio of about 1:2; and forming an electrical element in said at least one opening of said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer.

2

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said electrical element is a capacitor.

3

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said act of providing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer includes the act of hydrolyzing organotrichlorosilane.

4

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said act of providing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes the act of condensing organotrichlorosilane.

5

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer is provided to a thickness of about 2,000 Angstroms to about 15,000 Angstroms.

6

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer is provided to a thickness of about 6,000 Angstroms to about 10,000 Angstroms.

7

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said electrical element is a conductive plug.

8

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the act of forming a barrier layer in said at least one opening before said act of forming said conductive plug.

9

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said act of patterning said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes exposing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer to i-line radiation.

10

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said act of patterning said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes annealing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer.

11

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said act of patterning said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes annealing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer at a temperature of about 300° C. to about 600° C.

12

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said act of patterning said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes annealing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer at a temperature of about 350° C.

13

13. A method of forming a conductive structure, comprising the acts of: forming at least one gate stack structure over a substrate; forming source/drain regions in said substrate on opposite sides of said gate stack structure; forming a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer over and in contact with at least one of said source/drain regions; forming an opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer to expose at least a portion of an upper surface of said at least one source/drain region; and forming a conductor in said opening.

14

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said act of forming said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer includes the act of hydrolyzing organotrichlorosilane.

15

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said act of forming said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes the act of condensing organotrichlorosilane.

16

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer is formed to a thickness of about 2,000 Angstroms to about 15,000 Angstroms.

17

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer is formed to a thickness of about 6,000 Angstroms to about 10,000 Angstroms.

18

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising the act of forming a barrier layer in said opening and before said act of forming said conductor.

19

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said barrier layer is formed of TEOS.

20

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein said act of forming said opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes exposing said silicone ladder polymer layer to i-line radiation.

21

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein said act of forming said opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes etching of said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer.

22

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein said act of etching said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer includes contacting said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene.

23

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein said act of etching said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes contacting said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene in a ratio of about 1:2.

24

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein said act of forming said opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes annealing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer at a temperature of about 300° C. to about 600° C.

25

25. A method of forming a memory cell, comprising that acts of: forming a plurality of gate stacks over a substrate, each of said plurality of gate stacks comprising a gate oxide layer arid a conductive layer; forming spacers on sidewalls of each of said plurality of gate stacks; forming source/drain regions in said substrate on opposite sides of each of said plurality of gate stacks; forming a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer over and in contact with at least one of said source/drain regions; forming at least one opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer; and forming an electrical element in said at least one opening.

26

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein said act of providing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer includes the act of hydrolyzing organotrichlorosilane.

27

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein said act of providing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes the act of condensing organotrichlorosilane.

28

28. The method of claim 25 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer is provided to a thickness of about 2,000 Angstroms to about 15,000 Angstroms.

29

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer is provided to a thickness of about 6,000 Angstroms to about 10,000 Angstroms.

30

30. The method of claim 25 , wherein said electrical element is a conductor.

31

31. The method of claim 25 , wherein said electrical element is a capacitor.

32

32. The method of claim 25 , wherein said act of forming said at least one opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes exposing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer to i-line radiation.

33

33. The method of claim 32 , wherein said act of forming said at least one opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes etching of said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer.

34

34. The method of claim 31 , wherein said act of etching said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer includes contacting said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene.

35

35. The method of claim 34 , wherein said act of etching said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer includes contacting said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene in a ratio of about 1:2.

36

36. A method of forming a conductive structure, comprising the acts of: forming at least one gate stack structure over a substrate; forming source/drain regions in said substrate on opposite sides of said gate stack structure; forming a first insulating photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer over at least one of said source/drain regions; forming a first opening in said first insulating layer to expose at least a portion of an upper surface of said at least one source/drain region; forming a first electrical element in said first opening; and forming a second insulating layer over said first conductive element and said first insulating layer.

37

37. The method of claim 36 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer is formed by hydrolyzing organotrichlorosilane.

38

38. The method of claim 37 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer is formed by hydrolyzing organotrichlorosilane.

39

39. The method of claim 36 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer is formed to a thickness of about 2,000 Angstroms to about 15,000 Angstroms.

40

40. The method of claim 39 , wherein said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer is formed to a thickness of about 6,000 Angstroms to about 10,000 Angstroms.

41

41. The method of claim 36 , wherein said act of forming said first opening further includes exposing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer to i-line radiation.

42

42. The method of claim 41 , wherein said act of forming said first opening further includes etching of said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene.

43

43. The method of claim 42 , wherein said act of etching said silicone ladder polymer layer further includes contacting said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene in a ratio of about 1:2.

44

44. The method of claim 36 , wherein said second insulating layer is a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer.

45

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising the act of forming a second opening in said second insulating layer.

46

46. The method of claim 45 , wherein said act of forming said second opening further includes exposing said second insulating layer to i-line radiation.

47

47. The method of claim 46 , wherein said act of forming said first opening further includes etching of said first insulating layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene.

48

48. The method of claim 47 , wherein said act of etching said first insulating layer further includes contacting said first insulating layer with a mixture of anisole/xylene in a ratio of about 1:2.

49

49. The method of claim 45 further comprising the act of forming a second electrical element in said second opening.

50

50. A method of forming a semiconductor device, comprising the acts of: providing a photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer over and in contact with a substrate, said act of providing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer including the act of hydrolyzing organotrichlorosilane; patterning said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer by etching to form at least one opening in said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer; and forming an electrical element in said at least one opening of said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer.

51

51. The method of claim 50 , wherein said act of providing said photosensitive silicone ladder polymer layer further includes the act of condensing organotrichlorosilane.

Classification Codes (CPC)

Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.

Patent Metadata

Filing Date

March 21, 2002

Publication Date

August 15, 2006

Want to explore more patents?

Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.

Citation & reuse

Analysis on this page is generated by Patentable — an AI-powered patent intelligence platform. AI-generated summaries, explanations, and analysis may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL below. Patent abstracts and claims are USPTO public domain.

Cite as: Patentable. “Method of forming integrated circuit structures in silicone ladder polymer” (US-7091131). https://patentable.app/patents/US-7091131

© 2026 Patentable. All rights reserved.

Patentable is a research and drafting-assistant tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Documents we generate are drafts for review by a licensed patent attorney.